"He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad" ---- Rafael Sabatini

Friday, April 11, 2014

Beat the Devil (2002)

In 2001, BMW produced a series of 8 short films starring Clive Owen as The Driver. They were made with the top action directors and various famous actors to showcase the performance aspects of various BMW cars.

Plot: Decades ago, the legendary James Brown sold his soul to the devil for
fame and fortune. Now he wishes to renegotiate. Hired to take Mr. Brown
to a rendezvous with the devil (Gary Oldman), the driver soon finds
himself entangled in fiendish plans.

My rating: 10/10

will I watch it again? FUCK & YES

The Devil's (Oldman) entrance is hilarious. Hell, this whole short is hilarious. James Brown. Love that guy and he was a perfect choice as a guy who sold his soul to the Devil in his youth in exchange for wealth and fame. That it's got Oldman in over-the-top land as the Devil and Danny Trejo as his driver who goes wheel to wheel with Brown's driver (Owen) is the crack cocaine icing on the heroin cake. The race is both exciting and fun as shit. The ending is great and the use of James Brown's classic "HEY!" is used to great effect. Then there's the tag with Marilyn Manson. I'm only 3 into the 8 films and I can't imagine any of the rest being better than this. Fantastic.